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How Does Market Making Affect Industrial Relations? Evidence from Eight German Hospitals
Author(s) -
Greer Ian,
Schulten Thorsten,
Böhlke Nils
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00885.x
Subject(s) - german , liberalization , politics , industrial relations , economics , affect (linguistics) , wage , manufacturing sector , market economy , labour economics , economic system , international economics , political science , sociology , law , management , archaeology , communication , history
The introduction of market mechanisms matters for industrial relations. In the German hospital sector, national liberalization policies have put immense pressure on local management and worker representatives and led to the growth of a low‐wage sector. In case studies of eight hospitals, we find some locales where market making has led to union revitalization and mobilization, but this effect varies. Using an eight‐way comparison, we infer a configuration of three aspects of the local political economy — labour markets, politics and co‐determination rules — that together provide a well‐fitting explanation for both variation and change.